Couldn’t the NHL take advantage of everybody’s feelings of cool weather and do a doubleheader on NBC X-mas day? Or even better: How about a game airing right before football. You wanna attract a crowd? Have a doubleheader beginning at 12, do 15 minutes of pre-game for football, and then get to the game. Boom, as John Madden would say, you’ve just promoted hockey more than any amount of commercials could ever do. First, show a big market game (Wings and Rags for example) at noon to garantee a respectable audience for game 1. Then, at 2:30, showcase Crosby and the Pens vs. the fun to watch Dallas Stars, and you get a great transition into the Cowboys game.

12:00 NY Rangers vs. Detroit
2:30 Dallas vs. Pittsburgh
5:00 FOOTBALL Pregame
5:15 NFL On NBC

I think we’d all enjoy that.